My YouView box is whistling

My daughter complained to me that when she's watching YouView she can sometimes hear a loud high-pitched whistle coming out of the Surround-sound system.

Being of that age where I've lost the top end frequencies of my hearing, I can't hear it at all, but I checked with the spectrum analyser app on my phone and, sure enough, there was a spike at about 16kHz.

We switched from the YV box to the same channel using the TV (still through the Surround system) , and the problem went away. So the YV box is the culprit.

We then switched from the channel she was watching (E4) to BBC1HD. No whistle. Back to E4 - and the whistle had gone from there too. So the problem is intermittent.

This has only started happening in the last few weeks - I suspect since the recent software update. Anyone else with bat-hearing suffered this???

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This may be difficult to pinpoint if the issue is sporadic, but does it relate to a particular programme rather than channel? Taking the E4 experience for example, does the whistling persist throughout an ad break, or stop and then start again when the programme comes back? It may just be something in the soundtrack of certain programmes that the aurally acuitive - or those with bat-hearing as you so delightfully put it - are able to discern. I remember noticing this sort of thing myself occasionally years ago with old-fashioned analogue TVs and it was definitely programme related, although I recall it as more of a buzz than a whistle.

Well, she's an E4 addict, so it's kind of hard to know if other channels are similarly afflicted... However, I'm informed she's experienced the whistle on various different programmes on E4.

As I say, switching from the E4 on the YV box to E4 on the TV solves the problem, which I think exonerates both the channel and the programme being shown. Also, the fact that switching from E4 to BBC1HD and back on the YV box got rid of the whistle on E4 is interesting.

The phenomenon you mention was called 'intercarrier buzz' if I recall correctly, and was due to over-modulated picture info 'leaking' into the sound channel. But that's all gone in this new-fangled digital age! Having said that, the frequency of the whistle was remarkably close to the 15.625kHz line frequency of an SD picture (HD is of course higher, having more lines), so there might be some connection.

Have you tried altering the surround settings on the YouView box? Not as a permanent thing, but just to see if the bat's-squeak (c. Evelyn Waugh) is associated with how the sound on the YouView box is set?

I have a low opinion of people who press the Disagree button instead of engaging in reasoned debate.

I have an even lower opinion of YouView’s continued policy of letting such people hide behind the cloak of anonymity.

The YV box is connected by HDMI, and the TV is Toslink. More juicy info from my daughter: She tells me the whistle is 'only when people speak' ie it's not continuous, and it definitely happens on both programmes and adverts. No sign of it today, yet.

The YV box is connected by HDMI, and the TV is Toslink. More juicy info from my daughter: She tells me the whistle is 'only when people speak' ie it's not continuous, and it definitely happens on both programmes and adverts. No sign of it today, yet.

The YV box is connected by HDMI, and the TV is Toslink. More juicy info from my daughter: She tells me the whistle is 'only when people speak' ie it's not continuous, and it definitely happens on both programmes and adverts. No sign of it today, yet.

It happened with Adam Ant's sister, Sybil.

I have a low opinion of people who press the Disagree button instead of engaging in reasoned debate.

I have an even lower opinion of YouView’s continued policy of letting such people hide behind the cloak of anonymity.

The YV box is connected by HDMI, and the TV is Toslink. More juicy info from my daughter: She tells me the whistle is 'only when people speak' ie it's not continuous, and it definitely happens on both programmes and adverts. No sign of it today, yet.

This reminds me of why I stopped watching the gadget show. All the presenters used to yell into their mics causing distortion.

I would try dis/reconnecting the HDMI cable at both ends. Maybe a reset as that seems to fix many things.

Have you tried altering the surround settings on the YouView box? Not as a permanent thing, but just to see if the bat's-squeak (c. Evelyn Waugh) is associated with how the sound on the YouView box is set?

I would think that the output from E4 would always be 2 channel PCM regardless of setting.

Have you tried altering the surround settings on the YouView box? Not as a permanent thing, but just to see if the bat's-squeak (c. Evelyn Waugh) is associated with how the sound on the YouView box is set?

Indeed, but choosing Surround on the YouView box has implications, e.g. the volume is maximised without any user option to change that, no matter what is actually travelling over the connection.

As what we are looking for here is a bug (we hope), it could well be connected with the choice of Surround or Stereo, even though that oughtn't to make any difference,

Certainly worth trying therefore, to see if it helps narrow down the area(s) where the issue might be occurring.

I have a low opinion of people who press the Disagree button instead of engaging in reasoned debate.

I have an even lower opinion of YouView’s continued policy of letting such people hide behind the cloak of anonymity.